March 06, 2013

Critics, the Opinionated and Proofers Wanted

I seek a few more people to give it a read and help me understand what is and isn't working before formally sharing with agents & publishers.

Why did I write Everyday Paris?

I've been a Francophile long before transferring in 2010 to one of Europe's top creative ad agencies - DDB Paris.

Cultural
observation has always been an obsession of mine and living in Paris is an “observaholic’s” nirvana. It
was a hobby and compulsion to endlessly share things I noticed or thought interesting as a sort of guerrilla ethnography,
which people seem to quite like.

What compelled me to actually follow through with the idea for this book was a discerning friend advising a leading global luxury brand borrowed a passage of mine (without my knowledge) discussing Brie cheeses. One evening he decided to read it out in Versailles
Palace's Hall of Mirrors.

Frighteningly, the occasion was a grand dinner marking UNESCO naming French gastronomy an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, packing together 650 of the good, great and Michelin
starred of French gastronomy in rightful self-congratulation.

Surprisingly, rather than laugh, they applauded.

So I've since written a cultural briefing that can be read on a plane or train to Paris. It fits between your typical laundry list guide book/website/magazine and a breezy but individualistic expat novel.

Why does the world need this book?

There is a
generation seeking to be informed and mindful travelers who have no shortage of tips and lists but struggle to break through the sterile bubble of passive check-list tourism to become authentic participants in the city and experience how its inhabitants live any given day.

In other words, they seek to become temporary Parisians, and thus when in Paris wish to "do Paris as Parisians do."

Interested?

If you are interested in reading the manuscript before it is proves to be the next great publishing empire, or a glorious failure, send me an email or Tweet.

Contact me by Sunday March 10 ideally as my ambition is to have input by April 1-ish.

If not you, please forward to someone you think might be interested.

Reward:

I can't offer much other than being part of the journey. I did much the same for Alex Bogusky and John Windsor when they published Baked In, which was rather interesting.

If you are in the UK I will hook you up with some wine. If elsewhere I'll arrange some suitable consideration/inspiration. Of course once published you will brush with glory and get some special rewards if and when it takes off.